P R O D U C T I O N S
THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN is a co-production of David Grubin Productions, Inc., and Thirteen/WNET New York in association with Docstar.
Major funding for THE SECRET LIFE
OF THE BRAIN is provided by the
National Science Foundation.
www.pbs.org
TEEN GUIDE
www.pbs.org/brain
To the Teacher
This Teen Guide accompanies THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN, the five-part public television series co-produced
by David Grubin Productions, Inc., and Thirteen/WNET New York. We recommend that educators use the guide in
after-school science workshops or in science classes as a supplement to high school curricula.
The guide provides a general overview of the series and explores in detail key aspects of the brains development from
infancy to old age. How does a child learn language? When do our reasoning abilities develop? What is the relationship
between reason and emotion? Along with delving into these and other questions, the educational materials introduce
teens to neuroscience professionals neurosurgeons, MRI technicians and brain research scientists.
Like the television series, the guide stresses the brains plasticity over its lifelong development. Your students will learn
that the human brain is both resilient and vulnerable, particularly in the teenage years. We hope that the guides sober
discussion of the brains vulnerability can help students better understand and cope with problems in their lives.
You can pick and choose from the cards in this guide
to create your lesson. You will find the Table of Contents
on page 3. For example, if you want to teach about
infant development, you might combine the four cards
for Program One with the comic book pages and
Whats Going On in My Little Brother or Sisters
Brain? If you want to teach how substance abuse
alters the brain, you can use segments of Program
Three along with Addictive Drugs and the Brain.
TEEN GUIDE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
www.pbs.org/brain
www.thirteen.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
4
4
5-8
7
8
9-12
11
12
13-16
15
16
17-20
19
20
21-24
23
24
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Hypotheses in Science by Sue Young Wilson
Glossary
25
26
27-31
A NEUROSCIENCE TIMELINE
The When, Who and What of Brain Research by Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D.
32
RESOURCES
Books, Web Sites and Organizations
33-34
BRAIN BRIEFS
Brain(y) Photography by Faith Brynie
Whats Going On in My Little Brothers or Sisters Brain?
by Sue Young Wilson
Whats Going On in the Teenage Brain? by Sue Young Wilson
35-36
37
38
BRAIN HEALTH
Exercise and Sports: For Brains Only by Faith Brynie
Keep Your Brain Healthy by William Guido, Ph.D.
Mental Illness and Brain Disorders by Sue Young Wilson
Your Brain: Sleeping and Dreaming by Faith Brynie
39
40
41
42
PROFILES
Nancy Andreasen; Susan McConnell
Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.; Erick Green by William Guido, Ph.D.
43-44
www.pbs.org/brain
www.pbs.org/brain
THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN may be used in science, health, psychology and even language arts classes.
Video segments and animation sequences from Programs One through Five may be used to discuss topics including
science and technology, the nervous system, brain health and more. See the Program Highlights on the first Teachers
Page in each program section. Also check the animation list below to see which sequences you would like to use.
Language arts teachers may be interested in using Program Five segments that feature poet Stanley Kunitz.
ANIMATION SEQUENCES
(Times are in minutes and seconds)
The Babys Brain: Wider Than the Sky
2:16
7:05
9:11
10:52
13:12
13:59
15:12
28:45
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TEACHERS PAGE 1
www.pbs.org/brain
At a Glance
Theme: As a human grows from a fetus to a toddler, how does its brain develop? Program One uses two case studies
to explore this question and examine the ways in which brain cells are influenced by genetic and environmental
factors. By applying the latest brain research, scientists help the babies in these case studies develop normally.
Program Highlights
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TEACHERS PAGE 2
www.pbs.org/brain
Objectives
Procedure
Review some of the milestones of human brain development from birth to 12 months. You can find a chart
with this information at the following Web site: ZERO
TO THREE Brainwonders
www.zerotothree.org/brainwonders/index.html
Toy catalogs
EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Once students have completed their research, they
can create a three-minute news story about the
latest childrens toys. Alternately, they can write a
250-word newspaper story about the top three new
toys for babies.
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toy
toy
toy
age
of children its
intended for
intended
educational
benefits
(listed on packaging)
strengths
weaknesses
ways you would
improve it
questions
you would ask the
inventor of this toy
A babys
Rick Veitch
brain: Less
than one pound
and within its milky,
convoluted folds, one
finds a universe of
meaning."
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FACT SHEET
Ron Barrett
Brain Myths
by Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D.
Myth
Fact
There is no correlation between brain size and intelligence. Although whales, dolphins and
elephants have brains that are larger than those of humans, they are not necessarily more
intelligent than humans. Also, on average, men have larger brains than women. However, men
are not smarter than women.
Myth
Fact
We use all of our brain. Brain imaging methods, such as functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), show that the entire brain is active,
although not at the same time. The amount of brain activity depends on what the brain is
doing. Certainly all 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) of the brain are not firing impulses at the
same time, but all of the brain is used at one time or another. Damage to far less than 90 percent of the brain can cause devastating changes in the ability to talk, move, think and remember.
Myth
Fact
The brain is active 24 hours a day. Although our bodies are at rest when we sleep,
recordings of brain activity show that the brain goes through different stages when we
sleep. One stage, called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, is accompanied by brainwave
patterns and levels of cellular electrical activity that are similar to those seen when a
person is awake. REM sleep is also the stage when most dreams occur.
Myth
Fact
Although brain changes, such as strengthening of the connections between neurons, do occur
when new things are learned, new wrinkles in the brain are not formed. The wrinkles that
are seen on the outside of the brain are formed by folds in the cerebral cortex. These folds
allow the large surface area of the cerebral cortex to fit into the limited volume of the skull.
Myth
Fact
Personality is not a right- or left-brained function. Rather, personality and other complex
higher functions depend on both the right and left sides of the brain. Although one side
of the brain may be dominant for some behaviors, especially language, both sides of
the brain play a role in most tasks.
Myth
Fact
The brain is not sensitive to touch. Poke it, pull it, prod it... the brain won't feel a thing.
Although the brain receives and interprets information from the senses, it doesn't have
the ability to detect anything itself. Unlike the skin, eyes and other sense organs, the
brain has no specialized receptors to detect light, pressure, heat or cold.
ACT
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TEACHERS PAGE 1
www.pbs.org/brain
At a Glance
Theme: Program Two of THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN explores how experience shapes the remarkably
plastic brains of children as they encounter language. First they learn to speak and understand speech and then,
when they are slightly older, they tackle the complex skill of reading.
Program Highlights
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TEACHERS PAGE 2
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Objectives
Procedure
After viewing the program, tell students that, as they saw
in the program, practicing something over and over will
usually improve ones performance at it, as experience
literally reshapes the brain. (Think of the dyslexic kids in
the program who gradually improve their ability to read
by practicing over and over with the sounds that make up
words.)
Distribute the student page and explain that this activity
demonstrates how repeating something causes learning.1
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"I used to
think the brain was
the most important
organ in the body until
I realized, look whos
telling me that."
Emo Philips
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Ron Barrett
FACT SHEET
ATTENTION-DEFICIT DISORDER
by Sue Young Wilson
ouve probably heard of ADD, or ADHD, as it is
sometimes called its gotten a lot of press lately,
and some of your friends (or you) may even have
been diagnosed with it. Attention-Deficit Disorder or
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a physical
problem in the brain that makes it difficult for a person to
pay consistent attention, keep to a task (especially one the
person finds boring), and sit still. Between five and ten
percent of children are thought to have ADD. But
estimates vary widely, and there is disagreement about
whether ADD is over-diagnosed or under-diagnosed.
12
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TEACHERS PAGE 1
www.pbs.org/brain
At a Glance
Theme: New research has shown that during puberty, just as the brain begins teeming with hormones, the prefrontal
cortex, the center of reasoning and impulse control, is still a work in progress. For the first time, scientists can offer an
explanation of what parents already know adolescence is a time of roiling emotions and poor judgement. As the brain
matures, teenagers also face special risks from addictive drugs and alcohol that can hijack the brain, to the chaos
of schizophrenia, which strikes most often during adolescence.
Program Highlights
Discussion Questions
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TEACHERS PAGE 2
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Objectives
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
treatments improve life for many people with
Drug
schizophrenia. In your library and on the Internet,
research the history of some of the drugs used to
treat the disorder. Find out how the drugs were
developed and tested. Note their possible side
effects and find out what alternatives doctors can
prescribe. Make a bulletin board showing your
research and write an accompanying Viewers
Guide detailing the pros and cons of drug treatments. Include information on current research
and possible new drug developments in the future.
a single statement about schizophrenia from
Select
Program Three. You may choose a quote from
Courtney, Sabrina, a family member or an expert.
Next, clip pictures from magazines (or draw your
own) and create a poster-board collage that communicates the same idea as the quote. Use the quote
as the title for your collage and display it along
with similar artworks created by other members of
your class in an exhibit that will help viewers
understand schizophrenia better.
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Dear Diary,
Something is wrong with me. I have to face it
now. For months, Ive been denying the trouble,
making excuses, saying its just my imagination
or that it will go away. But thats not true.
People look at me funny sometimes when I talk.
Mom says Im talking silliness and Dad just
shakes his head. The words come out of my
mouth, but what are they? I dont know anymore.
I had this idea at school that some of the
kids were after me, plotting to get me suspended
or maybe even hurt me. My friends say it isnt
true, but I still think it is. I cant eat.
Everything tastes funny and Ive lost a lot
of weight. I look in the mirror and I dont
blink. I just see this staring, expressionless
face leering back at me. Sometimes, I cant
sleep, and everything seems to worry me. Other
times, I sleep for 12, maybe 14 hours straight
and I feel like I dont care about anything. My
brother says read a book or watch TV, but I
cant concentrate. I just stare out the window
at nothing. I laugh at all the wrong times.
Maybe I cry at all the wrong times too. Dear
Diary, whats wrong with me?
15
She should talk openly and honestly with someone she trusts a
parent, teacher, doctor or counselor. That conversation might be her
first step toward getting the help she needs.
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FACT SHEET
Addictive Drugs and the Brain
by Donna Boundy
cientists have performed extensive research into
how addictive substances affect the brain. Theyve
found that the repeated use of any mood-altering
drug produces fundamental changes in a brains chemistry.
What we call addiction is not just a word to describe a
lot of drug use. Addiction is actually a chronic, relapsing disease, the result of observable changes in brain
function.
Alcohol and inhalants are actually the most brain-damaging drugs of all, as they literally destroy neurons. But all
mood-altering drugs alter the way neurons receive,
process and transmit information. They do this by altering the level of certain neurotransmitters in the synapse,
the space between neurons.
The part of the brain most affected by drugs is the reward
pathway, an area involved in the processing of emotions.
This pathway of neurons regulates our basic survival
drives for food, water and reproduction. Repeatedly
stimulating it by drug use can result in what amounts to
biochemical reprogramming of our survival priorities.
Heres how it happens: When we do something that
brings us pleasure (like scoring a soccer goal or eating a
hot fudge sundae), a neurotransmitter called dopamine
travels across the synapse and stimulates receptors on
the target neuron, resulting in a feeling of well-being and
satisfaction. It is then quickly neutralized by an enzyme,
and any extra dopamine that did not connect with a
receptor is carried back into the neuron that released it.
16
ACT
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TEACHERS PAGE 1
www.pbs.org/brain
At a Glance
Theme: The Adult Brain: To Think by Feeling, Program Four of THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN, reveals
how the thinking and the feeling areas of the brain interact constantly, and how our lives are governed by emotion
and the interaction of emotion with our thought processes.
Program Highlights
17
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ACT
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TEACHERS PAGE 2
www.pbs.org/brain
Objectives
To conduct two experiments showing how the mind can cause physiological changes in the body
To learn a relaxation technique and a visualization technique
Photodisc, Inc.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY
For another example of how thoughts can affect the
body, ask students to try this:
Think of holding a lemon in your hand. Feel the
pebbly, waxy texture of its skin and see how bright
yellow it is. Bring it closer to your nose and smell
the sharp aroma. Now, picture yourself slicing it
open with a knife and seeing the juice squirt. The
tart smell rises into the air. Bring a slice to your
mouth and suck on it. The juice runs over your
tongue. Its so sour that your mouth puckers and
your eyelids flutter!
Now, open your eyes.
Did your mouth start to water as you did this
exercise? Maybe your eyes even watered a little or
the inside of your nose tingled. And all just by
thinking!
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JUST RELAX!
ne of the themes of The Adult Brain: To
Think By Feeling is that there is a constant
interplay between the feeling areas of the
brain, the thinking areas of the brain, and the body.
Each of these can and does affect the others. We
saw how hearing a verbal retelling of a traumatic
car crash caused Johny Cortezs body to react as
though he were actually reliving the traumatic
crash: His pulse rate soared, sweat flowed.
After you feel satisfied and happy, think about coming back to the room you are in. Focus again on your
breathing. Gradually become aware of your real-life
surroundings. Open your eyes, stretch and smile.
One person should take the others pulse. (Its probably easiest to take a pulse on the artery that runs
down the wrist from just under the ball of the
thumb. When youve found your partners pulse, use
a stopwatch or the clock to count how many pulse
beats you feel for 30 seconds, then multiply the number by two to calculate the persons pulse rate per
minute. Write it down.)
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FACT SHEET
Emotion and the Brain
by Sue Young Wilson
20
Photodisc, Inc.
ACT
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TEACHERS PAGE 1
www.pbs.org/brain
At a Glance
Theme: The longstanding belief that we lose vast numbers of brain cells as we age turns out to be wrong. As we grow
older, many mental functions remain intact, and may even provide the brain with advantages that form the basis for wisdom. The aging brain is also far more resilient than was previously believed.
Program Highlights
Sixty-three-year-old Kent Miller has a stroke that paralyzes his left side. Even after months of rehabilitation, he
is unable to use his left arm or hand. Desperate,
Miller tries an experimental treatment developed by
neuroscientist Edward Taub. This therapy requires Miller
to not use his good hand at all, in order to force his bad
hand to do the work.This method makes the neurons that
control Millers left side resume their old jobs.
At Harvard Medical School, Dr. Jeffrey Macklis works
with patients who have neurological disorders. One of
his patients is Sally Carlson, who has Parkinsons
disease. Deep inside her brain, in a region that
coordinates movement, thousands of neurons are slowly
dying. Carlson is no longer able to do simple tasks such
as folding clothes. Dr. Macklis hopes that one day he can
restore her abilities by tapping the potential of stem cells.
Dr. John Morris studies Alzheimers disease. One of his
patients, Alvin Johnson, used to run an insurance
company until he developed Alzheimers. Today, he can no
longer sign his name, doesnt know the date, the day or
the time. He doesnt even recognize his daughter anymore.
Dr. Morris is trying to find the cause of Alzheimers
so that he can treat those who are afflicted.
Scientists once thought that the brain of a stroke victim
caused permanent damage to the neural network and
that millions of neurons died. During the 1990s,
researchers discovered that the aging brain actually
experiences very little nerve cell loss. The brain is a
dynamic structure that can rejuvenate connections that
have become weak due to lack of use. No matter how old
a person is, his or her brain is still capable of change.
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ACT
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TEACHERS PAGE 2
www.pbs.org/brain
Objective
Poetry is an
exercise of the spirit,
the spirit within one,
and every time you exercise it, you increase your
vitality.
Stanley Kunitz
Procedure
Distribute the student page, and explain that in this
activity students will try to recall a list of unrelated
words, then learn some mnemonic devices that can
enhance short-term memory. Finally, they will try to
apply these mnemonic techniques on a different list of
words.
To collect and compare the results, have students submit their scores on a coded sheet of paper so names
and personalities dont enter into comparisons. Later,
collect and compare the second round results.
WEB SITES
Stem Cells: A Primer
www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm
Alzheimers Association
www.alz.org/
Free Tips to Improve Memory
www.studyhall.com/MEM/memory.html
Mind Tools Memory Techniques and Mnemonics
www.demon.co.uk/mindtool/memory.html
Study Shows Sleep Improves Memory
www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/11/22/sleep.memory.ap/
The Memory Page
www.premiumhealth.com/memory/
The Memory Exhibition
www.exploratorium.edu/memory/index.html
Playing Games With Memory
www.exploratorium.edu/memory/dont_forget/playing_games.html
Ways to Remember
www.exploratorium.edu/memory/dont_forget/playing_games_2.html
Memory Marathon
www.pbs.org/saf/1102/segments/1102-2.htm
Name Game
www.pbs.org/saf/1102/features/name_game.htm
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Photodisc, Inc.
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DIRECTIONS
Everyone fills out five blank index cards, using the following guidelines. Each
card should have words only (no pictures).
CARD
CARD
CARD
CARD
CARD
1: an animal
2: an object that begins with the same letter as your first name
3: an object from the room you are now in
4: a fruit or vegetable
5: an object used in a sports game
Have a volunteer shuffle all the cards together into a large stack. (NOTE: If
you have fewer than ten people in your class, have everyone fill out two sets of
cards, so that you have a large stack.) Then, have this volunteer read out the
top ten cards in the stack. As the volunteer does this, everyone else in the class
concentrates and tries to remember the objects. The volunteer should put the
ten cards in a small stack so they can be read aloud later.
Everyone in the class including the teacher is given three minutes to try
to write down the ten objects that were read aloud by the volunteer. The order
that the objects are written in doesnt matter.
4
5
6
The volunteer reads aloud the ten words and everyone looks at their own paper
to see how many of the words they correctly remembered.
Have a discussion about which objects were easier to remember
and why.
Your teacher will explain some memory tricks that will help you recall a random list of words. Then repeat Steps 1-4 and see if you are able to remember
more words than you did the first time.
BONUS
Try this again but this time, as an extra challenge, see if you can recall the
objects in order from smallest to biggest.
GOING FURTHER
23
Try this experiment with groups of people of different ages, especially older
adults. Do you find that the ability to recall the list of objects is affected by age?
N FACT
FU
NEURONS
CAN LIVE A
HUNDRED AND
TWENTY
YEARS!
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FACT SHEET
Memories in the Making
by Faith Brynie
Take a list of ordinary wordspaper, apple, clock, book then throw
some emotionally-laden onesblood, murder, sex, war. Chances are, your
brain will capture the high-impact words. Later, youll remember those
that caught your attention and forget the rest. Thats the way memory
works, and a part of your brain called the amygdala gets the credit or
the blame.
Where and How Are Memories Made?
Although storing and retrieving memories uses many parts of the brain,
two structures, the amygdala and the hippocampus, are essential for
forming memories. These regions lie deep inside the brain, in a region
called the limbic system. That region processes emotions and screens
information coming from the sensory systems. The left side of the amygdala, research has shown, attaches emotional significance to words such
as murder and makes them more memorable.
The link between an emotion and an event is different for each of us.The
event is forever linked to the emotion present when the memory was
stored. For example, the odor of a woodfire may remind one person of
cozy evenings by the campfire. For another, the smell evokes the terror
associated with a rampaging forest fire.
What is Memory?
In a word, chemistry.
Experiences send impulses traveling along neurons (nerve cells). Impulses
jump the gap between nerve cellsnot electrically, but chemically.
Substances called neurotransmitters released from the end of one neuron
move across the gap and stimulate an impulse in another neuron. Each
time that pathway is used, the neurons become chemically more sensitive.
They can stimulate each other more easily in the future.
Short-term memories, those that last for a few minutes or until you no
longer need them, depend on chemicals that disappear almost as quickly
as they are manufactured. Remembering a telephone number long
enough to call it belongs in this category.
24
ACTIVITIES
Smells are powerful triggers for forming and recalling memories. Saturate
cotton balls with strong odors such as
vanilla, peppermint, or lavender. Ask
test subjects to tell you what memories
the scents bring to mind, when in their
lives the association was made, and
what emotions they recall when presented with the smell. You may be surprised at the range and diversity of
responses.
HYPOTHESES IN SCIENCE
by Sue Young Wilson
www.pbs.org/brain
25
GLOSSARY
www.pbs.org/brain
26
stroke an injury to the brain, in which a blood vessel breaks or becomes blocked, sometimes resulting in paralysis
Parkinsons disease a disorder of the brain that reduces muscle control. Symptoms include trembling hands, rigid muscles,
slow movement, and balance difficulties. Most cases affect people from 50 to 70 years old. The disease is named for the English
physician James Parkinson, who described it in 1817.
Alzheimers disease a slowly progressive, degenerative disorder of the brain that eventually results in memory loss, abnormal
brain function, and sometimes death. The disease was first recognized and described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1907.
27
28
29
30
31
A NEUROSCIENCE TIMELINE
1826 Johannes Muller publishes the theory of specific nerve energies, stating that perceptions of different senses are carried by specific nerves.
Top: Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, Cortesy of the New York Academy of Medicine Library/Below: Leonardo da Vinci drawing
www.pbs.org/brain
RESOURCES
BOOKS
The Secret Life of the Brain, by Richard Restak, M.D., has been published by
The Dana Press and Joseph Henry Press to accompany the public television series.
www.pbs.org/brain
GENERAL INFORMATION
Barbor, Marcus. The Human Brain. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1999.
Brynie, Faith Hickman. 101 Questions Your Brain Has Asked Itself But Couldnt Answer Until Now. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 1998.
Carter, Rita and Christopher Frith. Mapping the Mind. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Conlan, Roberta, ed. States of Mind: New Discoveries About How Our Brains Make Us Who We Are. New York: Dana Press, 1999.
Czerner, Thomas B. What Makes You Tick? The Brain in Plain English. New York: Wiley & Sons, 2001.
Greenfield, Susan A. The Human Mind Explained. New York: Henry Holt, 1996.
Novitt-Moreno, Anne D. How Your Brain Works. Emeryville, Calif.: Ziff-Davis Press, 1995.
Wade, Nicholas, ed. The Science Times Book of the Brain. New York: The Lyons Press, 1998.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
The Dana Sourcebook of Brain Science: Resources for Secondary and Post-Secondary Teachers and Students. The Dana Press, 2001.
Access the online edition at www.dana.org
33
The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction. The National Institutes of Health, 2002.
To request a free copy, visit science.education.nih.gov/supplements and click on High School.
GENERAL INFORMATION
THE SECRET LIFE OF THE BRAIN
www.pbs.org/brain
Dana Foundation
www.dana.org
Neuroscience for Kids
faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Zero to Three
http://www.zerotothree.org
MENTAL HEALTH
National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association
www.ndmda.org
National Foundation for Depressive Illness
www.depression.org
National Institute of Mental Health: Depression
www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depressionmenu.cfm
National Institute of Mental Health: Schizophrenia
www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/schizoph.htm
National Institute of Mental Health, "Teenage Brain: A Work in
Progress," 2001.
www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/teenbrain.cfm
Psychology Information Online: Depression in Teenagers
www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/teens.htm
Schizophrenia.com
www.schizophrenia.com
Symptoms of Teen Depression
www.prairiepublic.org/features/healthworks/depression/teen.htm
World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders
www.world-schizophrenia.org
ADDICTION
Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse
www.casacolumbia.org
Focus Adolescent Services
www.focusas.com/Alcohol.html
Freevibe
www.freevibe.com/index.shtml
Marijuana Facts for Teens
www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html
BRAIN HEALTH
Brain Injury Association, Inc.
www.biausa.org/
ORGANIZATIONS
ADD/ADHD
National Attention Deficit Disorder Association
www.add.org
34
BRAIN BRIEFS
www.pbs.org/brain
BRAIN(Y) PHOTOGRAPHY
by Faith Brynie
35
Photodisc, Inc.
Heres how it works. A solution containing an oxygen isotope is injected into the person whose brain will be
scanned. As the isotope travels through the brain, it emits
positively charged particles called positrons. The
positrons collide with electrons in the body, which are
negatively charged. When the opposites destroy each
other, gamma rays are released. The PET scanner detects
the gamma rays, and the computer turns the signals into
colored pictures of where the action is in the brain.
BRAIN BRIEFS
BRAIN(Y) PHOTOGRAPHY
www.pbs.org/brain
What is MRI?
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. It works
because a hydrogen atoms single-proton nucleus has a
property called spin, which is like a magnetic field. An
MRI scanner looks like a hollow tube, but its actually a
powerful magnet.The magnet aligns the spinning atoms in
a single direction like dancers pirouetting in unison.
When a tiny pulse from a radio transmitter interrupts the
dance, the atoms bounce out of line with the magnetic
field for an instant. As they return to their proper positions, they emit a weak radio signal. Computers convert
the signals into pictures that show the depth and density
of living tissue.
Ordinary MRI pictures show only structures, but functional MRI (fMRI) can show whats going on inside the
living brain. It works on the same principle as PET: more
blood flows to an area of the brain that is active. With
MRI, the increased oxygen in an active area changes the
radio signal, pinpointing which neurons are receiving and
processing input messages.
Are PET and MRI the Only Ways
to Take Pictures Inside the Brain?
No, and still more ways are likely to be developed in the
future. For example, SPECT (for single photon emission
computer tomography) is similar to PET, but detects a
different type of energy. Its images arent as good as
PETs, but its much less expensive. Another technology,
called MEG (for magnetoencephalography) measures
changes in magnetic fields caused by the brains tiny
electrical output.
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Photodisc, Inc.
Activities
To demonstrate how a magnetic field can
align particles, sprinkle some iron filings on
a sheet of paper. Place a magnet beneath the
paper and move it about. With practice, you
can make the filings line up in neat rows,
tilting any direction.
At your library or on the Internet, go
treasure hunting for PET and MRI images.
Lots of them are available, and more are
added every year. Some on the Web invite
site visitors to view different slices of the
brain from various angles and to compare
normal brains with injured or diseased ones.
Find out what imaging procedures are used
at hospitals, medical centers and research
facilities in your community. Interview
health care providers and scientists to find
out what purposes the technologies serve.
For more on scanning the brain, log on to
www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/scanning!
BRAIN BRIEFS
www.pbs.org/brain
37
0 to 3 years: This is when those trillions of brain connections, or synapses, are formed between the brain
cells. Experience then pares away the connections to
form the brain's basic physical maps, in charge of
things like movement, vision, hearing and language. For
instance, when a baby is three months old, its brain can
respond to hundreds of spoken sounds; but in the next
few months, the brain will become more efficient by
recognizing spoken sounds in the language it regularly
hears, and filtering out subtle differences between other
sounds.
BRAIN BRIEFS
www.pbs.org/brain
Ever feel like your brain hurts? Well, maybe its got
growing pains.
Scientists used to think the brain, though it grows explosively
in early childhood, was pretty much in final form by puberty.
But, just in the past few years, with the help of new technologies like magnetic resonance imaging, theyve discovered
that the teenage brain is still very much a work in progress.
One brain area that undergoes major change in the teen
years is the prefrontal cortex, the part thats in charge of
setting goals, making plans, ranking priorities, organizing
and inhibiting impulses. Starting around nine or ten, the
prefrontal cortex goes through a growth spurt, adding many
more connections. Then, a couple of years later, these tangles
of connections start to get pruned away to leave the
prefrontal cortex in its final form. With all this change going
on in a brain area responsible for higher decision-making, no
wonder teens can get a little scattered.The good news is that
this pruning actually makes the connections more efficient,
helping teens get it together as they finish growing up.
Scientists have also recently found evidence that in
adolescence, the brains cells arent completely covered yet
by the fatty sheaths, called myelin, that help them function.
Myelinization, as the growth of these sheaths is called, may
not be complete until the early 20s.
The fact that a teenagers brain is still developing means
that it may be particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects
of alcohol and drugs, including nicotine. Researchers have
done experiments on adolescent rats and found that alcohol
and nicotine caused brain damage in the teenaged rodents
in ways that they didnt in adult rats. Another good reason
not to drink, smoke or take drugs.
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This well-known optical illusion shows both a young lady and an older
woman. Which do you see first? A key to the illusion is that if you look
closely, youll see that the young ladys chin can be the older womans
nose. Created by cartoonist W. E. Hill, it was originally published in
Puck in 1915 as My Wife and My Mother-in-law.
BRAIN HEALTH
www.pbs.org/brain
39
Activities
Working with a partner and a stopwatch, practice
folding paper with one hand. (Agree on rules for
the kind of fold and the adequacy of the result.)
Time a number of trials, first with your dominant
hand, then with your less-used hand. Compare
times between trials. Do you improve with practice?
Interview a professional athlete, physical education
teacher, physician or health club trainer. Ask
about the brainy benefits of regular exercise.
BRAIN HEALTH
www.pbs.org/brain
40
Discussion Questions
Have you ever been around someone who was drunk
or suffered from a concussion? How did their
behavior change as a result?
Knowing how common mishaps can affect brain
function, what will you do differently?
BRAIN HEALTH
www.pbs.org/brain
41
teen years or young adulthood, just as the person is discovering who they are. (Note: Schizophrenic does not mean
someone has a split personality, as the term is sometimes
misused in casual conversation.) In schizophrenia, scientists currently believe that the brain isnt properly processing a brain chemical called dopamine.
Schizophrenia often has a genetic basis. It is definitely
not contagious, but some researchers suspect that a viral
infection in childhood may play a role in causing schizophrenia. We still know relatively little about what causes
this devastating disease.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness in which a
person suffers severe mood swings, from mania (an exaggeratedly up or high state) to depression. Some people with bipolar disorder have mixed episodes that
combine symptoms of mania and depression.
The symptoms of depression are listed above. Manic
symptoms include: a hyper mood, agitation or
irritability, excessive self-esteem (thinking that one can
do anything or is king of the world), greatly increased
energy, decreased need to sleep, talking too much and too
fast, and risky behavior.
Bipolar disorder clearly seems to have a physical basis in
the brain and is often treated with a drug called lithium.
Theres Help for Mental Illness
Most mental illnesses are treatable, and most people who
are treated return to fully productive and meaningful
lives. Treatments for mental illness include medication
and talk therapy. Often, a combination of both is most
beneficial.
If you think you or someone you know may be suffering
from depression or another mental illness, see a doctor or
a counselor who can point you towards help. You might
start by asking the school nurse or the adult leader of a
teen group you belong to. Most communities have mentalhealth and suicide-prevention hotlines and crisis centers;
you can check in the Yellow Pages (try under Mental
Health). One suicide-prevention hotline with locations in
many cities is the Samaritans (www.samaritans.org).
Ron Barrett
BRAIN HEALTH
1. Dreams have hidden meanings. They are messages from the subconscious mind.
2. Sleep promotes healing and regrowth of the brains outer layer, the cortex.
3. Dreaming occurs only during REM (for rapid eye movement) sleep.
5. During sleep, the brain keeps the heart beating in a slow, regular rhythm.
6. Studying all night keeps memories fresh for an exam the next day.
6. False. Memories are stored during sleep, and experiments show that those who sleep after they study
www.pbs.org/brain
PROFILES
by William Guido, Ph.D.
www.pbs.org/brain
McConnell is an engaging speaker who travels the world describing how developing neurons make their journey to distant
cortical regions. What we would really love to understand is how the brain generates millions of neurons, sends them
to the right position, and then somehow instructs each individual nerve cell to form very specific connections with one
another. To me thats a miracle.
Dr. McConnells career path was influenced greatly by past experiences. She says, I used to watch
documentaries on TV about Jane Goodall and her studies of chimpanzees. For the longest time, I
wanted to be a field behavioral biologist just like her. As I studied biology in college, I grew more
interested in the brain as the basis of behavior and how neural circuits are created during development, thus enabling even newborn animals to exhibit complex behaviors. McConnells research
into animal brain development shapes our present thinking about how the human brain develops.
Her work provides new hope for people suffering from degenerative brain diseases, because surgical
transplants of newborn cells may restore brain regions ravaged by Alzheimers or Parkinsons disease.
Think big!
In his best-selling book, Think Big, neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson reveals his philosophy about life,
one that helped him to escape hardship and unleash his true potential. Dr. Carson is a world-class
neurosurgeon. He is best known for separating the Binder Siamese twins, who were connected at the
head. He performs hundreds of surgeries a year on children who are suffering from life-threatening
neurological conditions.
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At age 32, Carson became the youngest surgeon in the nation to hold the distinguished title of Director of Pediatric
Neurosurgery. Despite his rigorous schedule, he still makes time to give motivational talks to the youth of America.
Carsons message rings loud and clear THINK BIG!
Keith Weller
Carsons childhood was difficult. He grew up in a tough Detroit neighborhood, where he struggled
with a poor self-image and a bad temper. Carson says, I did not like school very much. I always felt
that I was the dumbest kid in my class. Others laughed at me and made jokes about me. Thanks
largely to the guidance of his mother and her belief that a good education was the ticket out of
poverty, Carson overcame his self-doubt and academic problems. His hard work and religious faith
helped propel him to the top of his class and resulted in a full scholarship at Yale University. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, where he trained to become a neurosurgeon.
PROFILES
www.pbs.org/brain
In addition to chairing the psychiatry department, she serves as editor-in-chief for the American Journal of Psychiatry
and was a member of the national task force that set treatment standards for psychiatric disorders. Last year, Congress
and the President recognized her outstanding achievements and awarded her the prestigious National Medal of Science.
Since its inception in 1959, over 350 scientists and engineers have received the medal. To be numbered among these
outstanding individuals is indeed gratifying and humbling, says Andreasen.
Erick Green
Research Associate
Louisiana Health Sciences Center
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Ericks supervisor can count on him for just about anything even for making late night runs to the lab to check on
ongoing experiments. Erick rarely gets public recognition for his work, but without him, the important research he helps
with would come to a grinding halt.
Hard work and perseverance paid off for Erick, and he landed a job as a research associate soon
after graduation. After work, he takes preparatory classes for medical school to realize his lifelong dream of becoming a
doctor.